//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: A Fierce Rival 
// Story: Scootaloo's Race 
// by RushingWind-01 
//------------------------------//

The day finally came. The day of the start of the Amateur Tournament. Scootaloo felt ready to take on stronger competitors. She was training a lot with Rushing Wind for the past few days and Rainbow Dash even taught her more about how to maintain a stable line when going at high speed.

Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash and Rushing Wind arrived back in Canterlot, where the first race was held. And this time, the track looked a bit tougher thanks to the tightened parts of the track.

"Hum. Looks like they made this track a bit tougher. Some parts of the track are now tightened.", Rushing Wind noticed.

"Probably the perfect place to test out everything you learned.", Rainbow Dash said, and Scootaloo knew what the two meant. This track really looks tougher than before.

"Try to get used to the obstacles, and react to them as quickly as you can. Just remember your training on the test track.", Rushing Wind said.

"Yeah. And also try to maintain your balance in case something goes wrong.", Rainbow Dash added.

"Thanks, you two. I'll be careful.", Scootaloo said and went off to the starting line. She knew that the two meant well, but sometimes, they worry way too much. But it made sense - she was still just a filly, attending a tournament where mostly adult Pegasi are racing, and she is the youngest of them all.

She entered the race track, and someone called out to her: "Hey, you!"

Scootaloo turned to the left. A red and white Pegasus with a wild, brown mane and tail came up to her. "You're quite young for an Amateur contender. What's your name?", he asked.

"I'm Scootaloo. I won the Rookie Tournament.", she responded.

"Ah, so you're the one who beat that braggart Silver Bullet.", the Pegasus said, "I mean he's an amazing flyer, but he sometimes tries to just show off when he wins."

"You know Silver Bullet? Are you two, like, siblings?", Scootaloo asked in curiosity.

"Nah, he's just a friend of mine. I'm Maverick, by the way. Like a speedy plane cruising above your skies."

When Scootaloo heard him talking about planes, she was slightly surprised. Has he been to the other world as well?

Out of pure curiosity, Scootaloo asked: "Say, have you heard of a different world behind a gateway mirror?"

Maverick shook his head. "No, not off hand. Did you?"

"A fellow Pegasus named Rushing Wind originally comes from that other world.", Scootaloo explained.

Maverick was surprised. "Really? He came from that other world? Wow. This guy must've seen a lot then."

"He did.", Scootaloo said, "From what Rainbow told me, he was plagued by several nightmares until he decided to stay in Ponyville. He just rarely goes back to the other world from time to time."

"A true dimension traveller, indeed.", Maverick said, "Now, ready to race?"

"I am!", Scootaloo said in excitement, "See you at the starting line!"





Scootaloo went to the starting line, this time to Position 12. Once again, there were 16 Pegasi, all with the one in the know: Winning the tournament. But this time, it wouldn't be as easy as the Rookie Tournament, and Scootaloo knew that. She took a launching stance and waited for the light to turn green.

The light turned green and Scootaloo took off, along with the others. Everyone was sure able to hit a decent speed, some faster, some slower than she is. But the one thing she was worried about was the changes in the track. Some sections were a bit tighter, and taking some turns requires fast thinking as well as quick reactions.

As Scootaloo raced over the track, she noticed some Pegasi ahead of her lose control a bit because of their sheer speed. When they entered Lap 2, Scootaloo was already in 9th Place, but she still had eight to go before taking the lead.

Suddenly, after the second K turn, three Pegasi crashed into each other. Scootaloo could quickly dodge them in the last split second, and thanks to her training, she was able to maintain her balance while keeping her speed.

When entering Lap 3, Scootaloo passed another contender, leaving her in 5th Place, with four more ahead of her. In the K turns, she utilized the Scandinavian Flick technique from the Rookie Tournament to flick through the K turns with a lot of momentum. Then, as she approached the final lap, she saw the three leading Pegasi ahead of her.

Lap 4 - Scootaloo put herself behind other Pegasi, slipstreaming them, taking the Speed Rings for extra speed, passing the  first of the three, then came a K turn! Scootaloo quickly flicked through that, passing the second one! And then, it came down to the last K turn. Another quick flick, a sprint to the finish, and then, Scootaloo won the race!

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Scootaloo lifted her front hooves in the air as she screamed to the cheering crowd. After she left the track, Maverick came to her.

"Hey, that was awesome flying! You certainly are way faster than I thought you'd be.", he said, "But that was just Race 1, so I still have a chance to win. And I guess you know from experience, am I right?"

Scootaloo remembered that. That Pegasus in the Rookie Tournament, Silver Bullet, was leading the tournament in the first two races, but lost the lead to Scootaloo twice and ended up in second place in the total standings.

"Yeah, I do.", Scootaloo responded.

"The next race will take place in Las Pegasus. Word has it that this race track looks really cool at night. See you there.", Maverick said and flew off.

Las Pegasus... Scootaloo has never been there before. "Maybe I even get to see more of the world very soon...", she thought.

Rainbow Dash and Rushing Wind came to Scootaloo. "Ha, another win! Nicely done, Scoots!", Rainbow Dash said to her.

"Yeah, and a good start into the championship. If there's something I learned in my homeworld, it's that a good start to a championship is one condition to win easily.", Rushing Wind said, "And it looks like your rival is pretty feisty."

"You mean Maverick? Yeah, he sure is.", Scootaloo said, "He also told me that the next race takes place in Las Pegasus."

"Las Pegasus?" Upon hearing the name of that town, Rainbow Dash became excited. "I haven't told you this yet, but I actually was in Las Pegasus!"

"Really? How was it?", Scootaloo asked.

"Totally awesome! I was riding the Wild Blue Yonder during my visit there, and I loved it!", Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Ha, that must've been good. Too bad they tore it down, I would've liked to see for myself what experience that is.", Rushing Wind said, a bit brought down.

"Hey, if you want, I'll tell you everything about that when we're going there, okay?", Rainbow Dash said to cheer her partner up.

"Yeah, sounds good to me.", Rushing Wind responded.





The same day, Night...

On the train headed for Las Pegasus, Rainbow Dash told Rushing Wind and Scootaloo everything about her trip to Las Pegasus. "...and then, finally, I got to ride the Wild Blue Yonder along with them! And I can just say, that was such an awesome ride! It's going so high up, it's so fast, it has so many loopings...! It was just so awesome! And guess what - I became a honorary member of the Gold Horseshoe Gals. Once a year, we go to Las Pegasus to have a lot of fun together!"

"Seems like your companions had a lot of fun in Las Pegasus as well. I guess Applejack really IS over-worrying.", Rushing Wind said.

"Yeah, not to mention that one time when she was so overprotective to Apple Bloom, always in fear that something bad happens to her.", Scootaloo added.

Both of them shared a good laugh.





The three Pegasi soon arrived in Las Pegasus, and Rushing Wind was filled with amazement as he took a look at this lively night city. So many lights, wherever they look.

"Whoa. I guess your rival was right. This city DOES look awesome at night.", Rushing Wind said. A lot of attracting buildings, everywhere. Casinos, Shops, the whole district was filled with lights.

As they were looking for the race track, Rainbow Dash spotted something in the distance. "Hey, look at that! Isn't that the Wild Blue Yonder?"

Rushing Wind looked into the direction Rainbow Dash was pointing. There was a huge rollercoaster which looks just like the one Rainbow Dash described, just... bigger.

The three Pegasi flew over to the entrance. Rushing Wind asked the bouncer: "Hey, wasn't the Wild Blue Yonder supposed to close permanently from what this mare here told me?"

"Yes, it was. But now look here." The bouncer pointed to the sign.

"'The Wild Wonderbolt Ride'...", Rainbow Dash read out aloud, seemingly amazed.

"Since so many Wonderbolts were riding the Wild Blue Yonder," the bouncer explained, "it was closed down so we could improve it. And so far, this is one of the most popular attractions in Las Pegasus, especially at night. Just look at the waiting line."

Rushing Wind, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo looked at the line. It was very long. The sign next to the line read: Waiting time - 1 hour 20 minutes.

"What do you say we three take a ride after the race?", Rushing Wind asked.

"Oh yeah!", Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash said at the same time.





Soon, they found the race track. Rushing Wind flew up and took a good look. It had its fair share of tough turns and tight sections, with some Speed Rings in fast turns and long straight lines.

"Surely a tough track, with some tough turns and tight sections, but also with some straight lines and fast turns. Paired with the colorful night around here, this race will promise to be interesting.", Rushing Wind said.

The two Pegasi wished Scootaloo good luck and she headed for the starting line. On her way there, she ran into Maverick again.

"Hey, Scootaloo!", he said, surely excited for this race, "Have you ever raced at night before?"

"No, just twice in the evening.", Scootaloo responded.

"Oh, trust me, racing at night is so different. You can hardly see the track ahead of you, which is only lit by the lights around here. And you never know when to turn in to not mess up the turn.", Maverick explained.

Scootaloo became excited. Racing at night sure is different than at daytime. The environment, the lights, everything is different to the prior races.

She took her position, in the lead of the pack, and took the launching stance. Then, she waited for the light to turn green.

As the light turned green, Scootaloo and the Pegasi behind her took off. For the first few seconds, Scootaloo maintained her lead, but as she hit the first complicated set of turns, she became slightly surprised. Maverick wasn't joking - racing at night is sure different, so taking the turns was way more difficult if you didn't know the track.

Scootaloo had a hard time in Lap 1, and got passed by three other contenders. In Lap 2, though, she got way more used to the track at night. She didn't get her position back, but she could use her current knowledge about flying and the track to catch up to the leading three.

Lap 3 - now was the time to catch up! Scootaloo utilized the techniques she learned so far, including the Scandinavian Flick as well as Air Braking in order to race through the hairpins and K turns fast without losing too much speed, allowing her to pass two out of three, leaving her with Maverick in front of her and one more lap to go.

Scootaloo kept herself behind Maverick in order to slipstream him for increased speed and tried her best to get past him. She got very close in the hairpins and K turns thanks to her techniques. And then, Scootaloo was right next to Maverick as they approached the finish line. Both of them passed the finish line at the same time, and now it came down to the time that the two hit.

In the end, Maverick was .005 seconds faster than Scootaloo, evening out the score between the two.

"I have to point this out, little one...", Maverick started, "Considering that you had a hard time at the start, you sure caught up very well. Good job."

"Thanks. But you knew the track better than I did, especially at night.", Scootaloo responded.

Rainbow Dash and Rushing Wind came to the two. "Hey. So you're Maverick, right?", Rainbow Dash asked.

Maverick gasped. "Whoa. No way! Are you THE Rainbow Dash?"

"Yep, that's me. I get that you heard of me, right?", she said.

"Heard of you? I was there when you pulled off that Rainboom! You left your two rivals behind by a very large distance. That was one race I sure remember!", Maverick said.

"So you were there as well when Rainbow pulled off that Rainboom? Wind Cutter told me that she was there too.", Scootaloo said.

"I know. We both were in flying camp and saw Rainbow Dash fly. That race was straight-up awesome!", Maverick said in excitement.

"I see that there are many Pegasi that saw you pull off the Rainboom, Rainbow Dash. First Wind Cutter, now Maverick, and probably a lot more that were watching that race.", Rushing Wind said.

"I know, right? But the biggest coincidende is that both of them are Scootaloo's rivals from the tournament. And Scootaloo also idolizes me ever since she saw me fly.", Rainbow Dash said.

"As for the race, Scootaloo, for your first night race, I'd say you were really good.", Rushing Wind said.

"Thanks, Rush. Racing at night is very different to the day.", Scootaloo said in response.

"True. I also had my fair share of night races. But unlike that race you did, the tracks that I raced on were lit by nothing but the headlights of my car.", Rushing Wind said.

"Say, Maverick. Now that we're already here in Las Pegasus, what do you say you join us three to take a ride in that new rollercoaster?", Rainbow Dash asked.

"You mean the Wild Wonderbolt Ride? Oh yeah, I'm with you!", Maverick said excited.





After nearly an hour of waiting, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Rushing Wind and Maverick were all riding the 'Wild Wonderbolt Ride'. It was a huge and super fast rollercoaster, and it has its fair share of loopings and fast turns, and since it was night time, several lights could replicate lightning storms, making the ride even more exciting.

The ride went for about three minutes before the car finally returned to the station. The four Pegasi exited the attraction, and Rainbow Dash was simply beaming from excitement.

"Oh my Celestia, that was SO AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash was so excited, she just couldn't hold it back.

"I can figure, Rainbow Dash.", Rushing Wind said, "I haven't been to rollercoasters this much, but that sure was one truly amazing ride."

"I also think that this rollercoaster is really awesome. I didn't have such a good time in years. How did you like the ride, Scootaloo?", Maverick said.

"I sure found this ride awesome as well! I can figure why Rainbow Dash also loved the 'Wild Blue Yonder' back then.", Scootaloo said.

"You know, Scootaloo, I don't say that about all my fiercest rivals, but you are actually the first rival that I consider as a friend. I had such a good time here, and I'm also looking forward to duel with you in the last two races of the Amateur Tournament.", Maverick said.

Scootaloo couldn't believe what he said - a rival being friends with another rival? Even though she knew it wouldn't make the championship any easier, she somehow felt that this guy meant it.

"The next race will be held in the Crystal Empire, early afternoon. I'll head back to Baltimare and hit the bed. You should do that too if you want to be in good shape for the last two races. See you there.", Maverick said and went off.

Rushing Wind and Rainbow Dash had a smile on their face as they looked at Scootaloo. "Lucky you, you having a rival as a friend. That was something I never had in my entire time as a racer.", Rushing Wind said.

"Yeah, having a rival as a friend is such a rare sight. But be careful, even if you two are friends now, doesn't mean he will go easy on you in the championship.", Rainbow Dash said.

"I know, Rainbow, I know.", Scootaloo said.

"Come on, let's go home and get some sleep.", Rainbow Dash said, and Scootaloo and Rushing Wind followed her. The day of the last two races of the Amateur Tournament will come soon, and then, the best Amateur will be revealed.